I just filed my first complaint with the BBB. (Sorry, this is long.)

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Guys, I finally became one of those people. I was so fucking angry at how I was treated by a local business that I actually took the step to complain about it.

The backstory to this story is this: end of October, my TV died. I was getting sound, but wasn't getting picture anymore. I didn't want to spend the money on a new TV this close to the holidays because if I was going to splurge on a new TV, I wasn't settling for anything less than a good 4K set. I went to Google to search for local repair shops. A place with good Google reviews that's decently close to my house gave me a quote of $120. I drop it off, pick it up an hour later, everything is good, my TV works again.

A little over a week later, it breaks again. Again, sound but not picture. I call the shop and uh, this is my story of service from hell, as written in my BBB report:

I was told that the technician would be coming to my house that day to fix it. That day came and went without a technician showing up or another phone call from the shop. The next day came and having not heard anything, I called them. They told me that somebody would be out that day. Of course, I didn’t receive another call regarding the issue. I called the shop back that night and was told, actually, nobody would be coming out to my house and if I wanted service, I’d have to take the TV back to the shop.

I had my father drop my TV off on Friday, November 17th. I wouldn’t hear anything from the shop for days afterward. I eventually called the following Wednesday, having not heard anything, and was told that the TV would be ready that night. About an hour or so later, I tried to call and nobody picked up. I tried again a little later, again, no answer. The shop was then closed for the Thanksgiving holiday and not open, even on Black Friday.

The following Monday, I called the shop to inquire about the status of my repair. It had been 10 days by this point and I hadn’t gotten a definitive answer about my television. I was told that morning that the TV would be ready in a couple hours and they’d be calling me. I did not receive a phone call that day.

I wait Tuesday for a phone call that would obviously not be coming because they were not operating in good faith. But I waited and wouldn’t call again until Wednesday. Again, I was told that the TV would be ready in an hour or so and that I’d be getting a phone call. Again, I heard nothing from the shop again that day.

Finally, Thursday morning came I went down to the shop and asked to pick up my TV. I was asked by a gentleman who said he merely handled the phones if somebody had called me. No, I said, at no point in this nearly two week process has anybody called me about anything. The owner/technician then came out and told me the TV would be ready in an hour and asked me to come back. I told him, I’ll be back at 1PM.

At 1PM, I went back to the shop and was told that it would be ready later that day. This time, he tries to explain, “Oh, we had to order the part which isn’t coming in until today and that’s the reason that this has taken so long.” That explanation holds no water. At no point had this ever been communicated to me until now, as every time I’d tried to inquire about the repair, I’d always been told it would be ready in an hour.

After not hearing anything again, I tried to call the shop again, only to get a message that the number had been disconnected. So I take a trip down there. This time, they are actually working on my TV, but tell me that they are closing soon and I have to come back the next morning.

No, I tell him, I am gonna wait right here. It’s the same gentleman that told me all he does it work the phones. I asked him what repair had to be made, to which he says he doesn’t know, he just works the phone. I ask if a part came in, and again, he tells me he doesn’t know anything, which is an odd explanation if all his job entails is waiting around at the shop all day and working the phone. This gentleman calls the owner, who tries to tell him that I have to pick it up in the morning. Again, I tell him, I’m gonna wait right here until it’s done. He tells me that if I take the TV tonight then I have to sign a slip of paper saying that I’m voiding the warranty for the work that they did. Fine, I say, because you’re never getting my business again after jerking me around and lying to me for two straight weeks.

At the end of this, my girlfriend does some digging and noticed something I hadn't: this shop operated under multiple different names. They have one name on their business license, which is on the repair ticket. There's a different name under Google when you just search "TV repair." There's a third business name on the wall inside. These people are crooks.

As of now, I do have working TV. How long it'll last, that's anybody's guess. I figure it'll break again soon and then I'll be asking Smokey about what 4K set I need to be buying. This is, without a doubt, the worst business interaction I've ever had. I'm a really laid back person, but when I was in that shop the other day, I was so furious that I was swearing at the dude. Two weeks of bad/no communication and lies every time I did manage to get somebody on the line. They did not operate in any kind of good faith.

Sounds like hell, glad to hear the TV works but I wouldn't be surprised if you started posting in the TV thread for recommendations lol.

I listened to an episode of the Reply All podcast that talked about businesses doing exactly what your girl discovered:

. They have one name on their business license, which is on the repair ticket. There's a different name under Google when you just search "TV repair." There's a third business name on the wall inside. These people are crooks.

Basically, they paid for Google AdWords so that they would appear at the top of the lists on search results,often under different names. It's super scummy

I'm not sure if it could help or how far you wanna go with this but maybe you could also access the website for The Department of Consumer Affairs for your state? They may have a complaint section.

But in all seriousness, that's terrible. Did you leave what you wrote on every review site you could find, Yelp, Google, etc?

I hadn't yet. I've always been one of those people that's really reticent with regard to complaining about service. Like, fuck, I tip bad waiters like 10% still and just get on with my life. I really do need to post something to Google, since it has 4 stars there. Yelp is under the actual business license name and there's a lot of bad reviews there, which I would've never found had my girl not discovered all the different names.

I cannot tell y'all how mad I was when the dude told me, "Come back tomorrow morning." I literally called my lawyer on the spot and just stared at the guy.

I hadn't yet. I've always been one of those people that's really reticent with regard to complaining about service. Like, fuck, I tip bad waiters like 10% still and just get on with my life. I really do need to post something to Google, since it has 4 stars there. Yelp is under the actual business license name and there's a lot of bad reviews there, which I would've never found had my girl not discovered all the different names.

I cannot tell y'all how mad I was when the dude told me, "Come back tomorrow morning." I literally called my lawyer on the spot and just stared at the guy.

Its kinda hard to imagine you this mad from the little we spoke way back on Halo

By DY_nastyGo To PostIts kinda hard to imagine you this mad from the little we spoke way back on Halo

they must've been blatant as hell in person too

He kept trying to tell me, "I just answer phones, I don't know anything." Man, if you answer the phones, you should know everything. Then he says I have to leave because he had kids to go home to. I told him I didn't give a fuck about his kids. He said, you can go wait outside. I said, if I leave this building, you're going to lock me out and keep my TV hostage some more.

I stood right there as this other guy who pretended he didn't speak English fixed my TV.

By rodeoclownGo To PostHe kept trying to tell me, "I just answer phones, I don't know anything." Man, if you answer the phones, you should know everything. Then he says I have to leave because he had kids to go home to. I told him I didn't give a fuck about his kids. He said, you can go wait outside. I said, if I leave this building, you're going to lock me out and keep my TV hostage some more.

I stood right there as this other guy who pretended he didn't speak English fixed my TV.

You know, probably not that far off from the truth. One of the times I went in there, the dude that swears he just answers phones was on ebay writing a lengthy return reasoning. Which now is obviously like, oh, they totally scammed somebody on ebay, took parts out of the TV and returned it and said it didn't work. (Another time I went in, somebody was watching some NRA propaganda on YouTube. They politely paused it for me.)

The last time I went in, when I stayed until they fixed my TV, the dude that was in the front part was the guy that pretended he didn't know English at first. I said, hi. He didn't even look at me, at which point I told him, hey, I want my television. He throws up his hands and just kinda grunts. I said, dude, I don't even care if you fixed it, give me my TV. He then asks in this Russian sounding accent, is it done? I said, I don't know, I don't even care anymore, but I just tried to call and the number is disconnected now. He looks around for all of like three seconds and throws up his hands again. I point out which TV is mine (helpfully, it's sitting behind the counter). He shakes his head and says, I don't know if I can give you that. You can't give me my own fucking television? So I asked him, can you call your boss, like on his cell phone, because that's my TV? He responds, I don't know the number. I said, you're really trying to tell me you don't know your own boss's number or have it in your phone?